Nifty, Sensex close at record highs on low inflation, FII inflows

Both foreign and domestic investors were enthused by a low inflation and higher industrial growth in the last financial year under the new data series that included more items and shifted the base to 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05.

Indian share benchmarks closed at a record high on Monday as investors took comfort from low inflation and a deluge of foreign fund inflows.

Reuters photo

The weather office IMD’s forecast of a normal monsoon coupled with bulging granaries indicate to a benign inflation and faster industrial expansion, which is likely to boost India Inc’s earnings and improve stock valuation in the coming months.

The Sensex closed up 0.44% at an all-time high 30,322.12. The broader NSE index ended 0.47% higher at 9,445.4. Tata Steel was up 4.4% while Dr Reddy’s gained 3.5%, Lupin 2.4% and ICICI Bank 1.8%

The metal, realty, banking, FMCG, capital goods and PSU indices rose as much as 1%.

Both foreign and domestic investors were enthused by a low inflation number under the new data series that included more items and shifted the base to 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05.

While the whole sale inflation (WPI) slowed to 3.85% in April from 5.3% from March, the retail or consumer price inflation (CPI) eased to 2.99% in April, the lowest under the new data series.

The industrial output under the new data series showed an expansion of 5% during 2016-17, from 3.4% in the previous year.